


At your side, once more

by Iamsuperconfused



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fix-It, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-12 07:13:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16868479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamsuperconfused/pseuds/Iamsuperconfused
Summary: This was the prompt: "Alex is in trouble. Even as director, she's still got some field time. In a bad turn of events, she's injured in the field, and with Supergirl busy with the bad guy, the first people to find her are NCPD. She and Maggie come face to face for the first time since the break up."and this is my take on it!Merry Christmas!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bathtimefunduck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bathtimefunduck/gifts).



It’s all over the various screens in the command center. The news is reporting on it too. An elite force led by Agent Vasquez is accompanying Supergirl into the city’s power plant.  An armed group took control of it over night, keeping the night-shift employees as hostages. There’s no current clues as to their identities and they haven’t made any demands yet.  
  
The holographic map lights up to display the event’s location as Brainy joins her at the command table, his usual stoic composure on display. “Director Danvers, It seems that the enemy is trying to divide our forces. Another armed group is rounding up the alien population in the industrial complex.”  
  
“Relay the intel to Vasquez. It might be helpful to her once they break in the power plant.” Alex pat Brainy on the shoulder and stride hurriedly toward the armory while opening her communication channel “Scramble team B for the industrial complex. I’ll take the lead on this one.”  
  
“Should I prepare to assist as well?” Brainy ask, a touch of eagerness in the way he speaks. His finger runs over the Legion ring, a subtle reminder that he’s a hero too.  
  
She hesitates, because in her mind Brainy is where Winn would‘ve stood. It‘s who she always imagined there. She never could ask Winn to go on a truly dangerous assignment.  She makes a strange compromise in her mind. “Any further situation arises, you’re on it.” Alex replies as she disappears into thel locker room.  She takes her newest gun and her older alien gun as well, holstering both in her two thigh holsters. She runs all of the diagnostics over her suit, as Winn taught her to do before joining her team in the van.  


* * *

  
  
By the time Alex and her team make it to the industrial complex, Brainy has to fly off to evacuate an area near the power plant as the situation deteriorate. Alex relays her order for the plant directly to Vasquez before stepping out the van.  
  
As the team  advance on the positions of the armed group, all the DEO agents quickly make the same call: They’re fighting cadmus agents. The uniform and the tactics are unmistakable. Fighting Cadmus is easier than fighting other threats by now. Their field tactics don’t differ much from each encounter and they don’t have the same level of talent working for them, as far their armed operations goes. It’s almost routine.  
  
It takes a few minutes to get Cadmus to retreat from their initial position, they scatter and attempt to regroup. Their morale drops considerably, having to contend with Alex disarming them or blocking their shot with her advanced suit’s abilities.  
  
It happens so fast from there: Alex catches a glimpse of their commanding officer and she does a double-take: It’s Jeremiah.  Instead of firing the explosive ammo from her newest gun, she switches to her Daxamite sidearm and begin chasing him. All of her shots miss, deflected by something surrounding him. Jeremiah runs for it, sounding the retreat for the rest of the Cadmus group. He runs into a nearby Factory while his troops scatters.  
  
“Pursue and capture.” is Alex’s order to the rest of the team as she barrels down the path, chasing after her father. Through the shattered entrance doors, sliding over the reception desk and sprinting into the hallways leading to the assembly lines.  
  
It’s a bit too easy to catch up to him, he’s waiting near a security check point, blocked by two, consecutive security doors.  When she gets there, he’s on the security system right next to the first door, pulling some wires. He whirls around and points his gun her way, with nothing but a cold stare for her.    
  
“Dad, drop the gun, now. I’m not letting you--” three shots echo through the hallways and while her suit is meant to provide protection from gunfire,  it offers little protection against armor piercing rounds. An intense pain shoot through her entire body, she feels one of her lung get punctured. She slumps against the wall, trying to fire her gun at him, one of the shots misses and breaks one of the doors and the other knocks the weapon out of his hands.  
  
“You really made this too easy Director Danvers.” Lillian’s voice comes from him as the image projector turns off from the impact. “I hope your replacement is more reasonable.”  she drops a grenade on the ground and flees, deeper into the building.  
  
The shock from her injury isn’t enough that she can’t recognize that a grenade is about to explode, but it’s enough so that she misses that the grenade is actually a flashbang.  As she focused her suit’s ability to contain a high impact explosion, she’s staring right at the damn thing when it goes off, blinding her and making her ears ring. “Son of a bitch!”  
  
Everything hurts, she can’t hear anything over the buzzing sound in her ears and her eyes took the full effect of the flash, she can’t see. She doesn’t hear it when her team request for further orders, or ask for a report.  She feels the communication device ticking lightly, alerting her to its activity. “I’m hit, proceed with caution. Requesting medical assistance.” She’s already out of breath, a side effect of the punctured lung.  
  
“Roger that Director.” It’s very distant sound, but she hears it and she coughs when she tries to reply.  She can feel the blood dripping from her chin, she can feel one of the bullet lodged inside of her. She feels footstep to her left, she feels hands on her back and on her chin.  She hears that there’s someone speaking, but she can’t make out what’s being said as she slowly drifts to unconsciousness.  
  
It’s the smell that does it however, as the hand leaves her chin, she catches a touch of a familiar scent, the smell of Maggie’s favorite soap mixed with the little perfume she always puts on before work. “Maggie...” she cough out trying to say something else and faint completely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's POV and subsequent follow up of the events of the previous chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got WAAAAAAY longer than what I anticipated

“So why aren’t you at the power plant?” Her partner asks, he’s green and a little too eager on the job.  Jittery almost, this is the first true emergency situation he’s been in.  Or maybe he’s nervous because he heard stories about her, about how she’s a man hater or that she’s generally super angry with her partners.  
  
“Because the power plant isn’t a negotiation.  The hostages aren’t there to bargain, they’re there to make it hard for the Feds to use their guns.” Maggie is reading the upcoming news feed on her work phone.  “The situation at the industrial complex is different, we’ve got intel about aliens getting kidnapped.” that word still feels weird on her tongue. Her heartbeat goes wild when the next notification roll in.  “And now we got report of gunfire, let central know we’re on our way.”  
  
He takes the speaker into his hand, driving with one hand. “This is officer House, we’re responding to industrial complex. ETA five minutes.” they get the all clear from central and further patrol gets assigned to the situation.  As he drives towards the designed factory, they can hear the distant gun fire and the muzzle flashes. “Who’re they fighting?”  
  
“Feds, and don’t ask any questions. Understood?" Maggie makes a quick mental list of who she knows will join them, she’s pretty sure she outranks everyone there. When her partner parks the car one block down from the factory, she throws him a kevlar jacket from the trunk of the car and puts one on for herself before heading over, she picks up her own comms “Detective Sawyer here, approach from the south, gun fight ongoing.” She gets a lot of chatter back from a few patrols confirming their approaches.  
  
Maggie and her partner come across a pair of fleeing Cadmus operatives. House proves himself quite the brawler, once he gets the gun knocked out of his grip, easily wrestling the escaping agent down and cuffing him.  Maggie just trip the one she goes after and cuffs him face down in the dirt and unmowed grass. She reports the arrests and identity of the group, while House picks up his firearm. “That went well.”    
  
“Could’ve gone better, but good catch I’m impressed.” she mimicks the take-down.  
  
“Used to be on the wrestling team.” He looks toward the factory again. “Should we go ?”  
  
“Watch over these clowns and send at least one patrol my way when they get here.” She pats him on the shoulder and make her way to the factory.    
Maggie approaches the big factory, she’s trying to be sneaky and manages to peek around a big concrete column at the entrance area. She recognizes a few of the DEO agents watching over captured Cadmus agents.  They recognize her too.  
  
“Detective.” The greeting is a bit stiff, but the guy is just off of a fire-fight. He’s about to speak again when his comm seem to distract him.  “Roger that director.” he looks her way “The director got hurt chasing after their commanding officer and requesting assistance.”    
  
Maggie starts toward the door “I got this, bring me a first aid kit.” If J’onn is hurt, there’s a chance these agents won’t know about how to treat his injuries. One of the agent goes to their van, she hears the sliding door as she enter the building, stepping over the shattered doors.  The reception area is empty, so she pushes into the hallways behind it until she reach the area marked as security.  
  
This isn’t how she expected to learn about any promotion Alex ever got.  She dropped the gun and fell to her knees, immediately checking for vitals.  There’s an erratic, weak pulse and when she brushes her thumb under her nose, she can feel laborious breathing.  Alex turns her head and mumble her name, before coughing blood and finally fainting. “Fuck!”

* * *

  
  
Alex gets transported back to the DEO where Maggie knows Dr. Hamilton is going to make sure she doesn’t die.  There was once a time where she’d be sitting next to the medical bay, worrying over Alex side by side with Kara.  For reasons out of her control, she finds herself thinking that the only difference now is the distance between her former sister-in-law and herself.    
  
_**You [18:32]:** Is she ok?_  
_**Kara [18:33]:** She survived the surgery. _  
_**Kara [18:33]:** Still unconscious._  
_**Kara [18:33]:** They won’t let me in her room._  
_**Kara [18:33]:** Her heartbeat is so weak_  
_**Kara [18:33]:** idk what to do_  
_**You [18:34]:** Why won’t they let you in?_  
_**Kara [18:35]:** Because updated security. military oversight._  
_**Kara [18:36]:** They’ll transfer her to a hospital. New protocols._  
_**You [18:36]:** When?_  
_**Kara [18:37]:** Tomorrow morning._  
  
Kara tells her which hospital it is the moment she learns about it, the next morning Maggie can’t explain it to herself but she walks into the ICU of the NC Health Center with a box of donuts. It’s easy to find Alex’s room, it’s the one surrounded by people: James, Kara, Eliza, J’onn and, to Maggie’s surprise, Lena.  There’s also a new guy she doesn’t quite recognize and, to her dismay, she doesn’t see Winn.    
  
J’onn’s the first one to see her, he smiles at her and welcome her with a quick hug. The group stays quiet when she joins them around the bed.  Kara sets the box of donuts aside for the moment. Alex is still unconscious, assisted breathing equipment all over the place. Lena and James are the first to go, both of them reassure Kara that she doesn’t need to go to work today. Eliza is eerily quiet and Maggie avoids looking at her.  J’onn leaves after a while, but leaves his number in Maggie’s phone.  The one she doesn’t know leaves, but she catches Kara calling him Brainy.  
  
“Did I miss Winn?” She finally asks when Kara and Eliza are the only one left.  Eliza seems curious about the question and she looks to Kara for the answer too.    
  
“It’s a long story, but he’s being a hero in the future. He went to the Legion’s time when Brainy couldn’t return, after the Worldkilkers.” Eliza looks more confused than she was before, but Maggie catches the general meaning. “I’ll explain it to you later.”  
  
Alex stirs in the bed, and, after a laborious attempt at sitting up, Maggie finds the crank that adjust the top part of the bed and adjusts it until she gets an exhausted thumbs up from her ex. She tries to speak, but the oxygen mask and the tubes make it all but impossible.  
  
Amidst Eliza and Kara each taking one side of Alex’s bed and them showering her with their joy, Maggie catches a inquisitive stare from Alex. All she can offer is a shrug back, she takes a look at her phone. “Alright, I got to go work. Feel better.” it’s a lie, she took off for the day. The captain didn’t like it, but couldn’t do much to stop her.  She leaves the ICU and walks out the front door of the hospital, avoiding any encounters with overly concerned nurses.  
  
Maggie feels a hand on her shoulder the moment she steps into the parking lot, it’s Kara, there’s pain in every inches of her expression “I know you have to work. I ... Alex didn’t want you to go.”  
  
“I can’t Kara. I can’t.” Maggie has tears in her eyes already. “She has all of you people, why does she need me to stay?”  
  
Kara looks at her and the blonde’s shoulders slump. “She was making grabby hands at you while you were leaving and she started crying when you left the room.”  
  
Maggie exhale deeply, her tears spilling, spinning out of control already. “Kara, I know your sister is hurt.  I know you want her to feel better.  I can’t. I can’t just ignore everything I’ve lost. I can’t just sit at her bedside like... like she’s my wife.” Maggie wrestle with herself. She narrowly avoid spilling exactly how she feels in this moment. “I can’t go in that room and endure the way Eliza stares at me, like if any of this is my fault.”  
  
She watches Kara wring her hand and struggle with her refusal, conflict in the normally peaceful blue eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider that. Will you at least visit again ? I’ll let you know when me and Eliza aren’t here.”  
  
“I guess I can check up on her sometimes soon.” She roll her eyes, conceding.  Truth be told, she expected Kara to be far more insistent on this. “Just send me a text.” with that, she leaves for the parking lot.

* * *

  
  
It takes roughly a week before she gathers the will to visit again. Avoiding Eliza and Kara being there is simple enough. The fact that Alex has not yet been released from the hospital is a testament to the severity of the injuries, she thinks.  As she peeks into the room, Maggie notices that the assited breathing appartus is lighter now. She approaches the bed, stopping at the foot. “You want me to sit you up?” mimicking the cranking motion.  
  
She notice that Alex is startled by her voice, the woman struggles to sit up again but fails just as badly as she did the last time.  Clearly she didn’t hear her question. Alex settles down when she sees her use the crank again, feeling the end of the bed rise against her back. Maggie can only imagine how painful it must be to breathe with punctured lungs. When she think Alex is comfortable, Maggie takes a seat to her left.    
  
It brings back memories, painful memories, of the last time she watched over Alex like this.  It was after the tank.  God, it was the first time they said they loved each other. Her mind conjures all of what’s happened since. Alex’s eyes are damp, it’s hard to see her so emotionally distressed on top of her physical state. She takes her left hand between hers and she can feel the strength behind the grip.  
  
“I thought it was J’onn who got hurt.” Maggie starts, she knows the silence between them will let her mind wander where it isn’t welcomed anymore.  “The agent said something about the director being hit. I thought I’d do first aid, I didn’t know if those guys had any idea of how to do that on a martian. I thought you’d be at the power plant with Supergirl, I thought it was safe to go in.”     
  
Alex’s grip gets stronger, it’s almost painful, but she doesn’t do anything to get her hand out of her grip.  She uses the one hand she has free to wipe at her own eyes. “I’ve been trying to forget you.  I’ve been trying to move on, it’s not easy. You left a big mark.” Maggie takes a really deep breath. “Seeing you go unconscious, that’s the worst I’ve felt in a long while. Even worse than the breakup.” She can feel her tear hit her own arm, the sound of them hitting leather is a little too familiar.  
  
Alex tries to make a sound, but it’s apparently still hard for her to breathe and to form words, her free hand rise and fall, punching the bed in frustration. Maggie watches and there’s a pinch of guilt in her heart but at the same time, all of this makes it feel a little better. “I can stop talking, I’m not here to make it harder.” Alex’s other hand reach to move a strand of her hair behind her ear, it’s almost an instinct to lean into the touch.  
  
“Kara spoke to me about--” a deep laborious breath break up her speech “--what you told her. I’m sorry” The words takes a bit of Maggie’s own breath away, almost like a punch in the gut.  
  
 “I don’t think right now is a good time for apologies Danvers. I’m upset with you in a lot of ways.  It’s hard to see which part are genuine and which part I’m being immature about. I haven’t gotten to the reasonable part of my griefing yet.”    
  
“Don’t do that.--” a pause for breath “-- I hurt you. I’m sorry for everything.”   Maggie can’t look at how Alex’s expression twist with guilt and pain, so she closes her eyes.  
  
“Alex, you don’t have to apologize for wanting something I don’t. For making a decision about your life, for putting yourself first, for once.” Maggie rest her head on the short metal railing, feeling the cool metal to her forehead helps a bit. She feels Alex’s fingers grip harder on her hand.    
  
“Maggie, please. I know I have no rights. But I also know you haven’t spoken about the breakup to anyone. Not in a meaningful manner.” Alex’s voice is barely above a whisper, it seems to make it easier on her.  
  
She can already hear it in her head,  the long winded speech that Alex is about to give her. She decides to spare her the pain and cut it off before it being. “I just wish you being happy didn’t leave me with nothing, again.” Even without looking at her, even with her eyes closed.  Maggie feels the change her words just caused.  Alex’s breathing is hitched, painful. The grip she has on her hand is wavering, but she clings to it all the same.  “I’m going to go. I’m not helping anything.” Alex, in spite of her weakened state, isn’t letting go of her hand.  
  
When finally she looks at Alex, there are tears in both of their eyes. “Let me go.” Alex shakes her head, but she does release the grip on Maggie’s hand somewhat.  
  
“Please, stay.” Alex leans forward and focus her attention right onto Maggie, she can feel the woman’s eyes trying to see through her.  “I... never wanted you to lose everything.” her words are broken up with deep, labored breaths.  
  
“What kind of fucking difference does that make?” Now it’s a poisonous fury in her heart, her tears are slowly drying up and Maggie stares at Alex with the heat of her anger beating in her chest.  She isn’t shouting, neither them or the hospital staff needs a full blown fight.  
  
“None. It doesn’t make a difference to you.” Alex concedes and she looks Maggie right in the eyes, with the look, Maggie feels an odd pressure in her own chest; it’s hard to swallow when Alex looks at her like this. “I understand now, why you didn’t want to date me when I came out.”  
  
She doesn’t reply, but the tilt of her head is enough of a show of curiosity that Alex decides to continue with her thoughts.  
  
“The whole thing was a mess.  I fucked up when I dropped our relationship that one time Kara disappeared to an alien moon, because I was too new to this to realize that you’re supposed to rely on the other for support. I fucked up on Valentine’s day when I didn’t listen, I fucked up when Winn got in trouble and I asked you to let him go.” Alex grips on her pillow, squeezing repeatedly. “And I fucked up when I rushed proposing to you, I fucked up when I forced you to invite your dad.”  
  
“A lot of those ended up working out fine.” She concedes now, remembering the events Alex is citing, even without her going into deep details, she knows exactly what Alex is referring to.    
  
“What fucking difference does it make?” Alex almost cough on the curse, managing to smile at Maggie, returning the words to the sender. “I get so caught up in how I see things that I never stop to consider other viewpoints.  Sure I can be right a lot of the time, doesn’t make it my pero--” a sudden fit of coughing startles Maggie “--perogative to fix everything, and I got to see things differently now. Sure, you feel better about Valentine’s day now or maybe you got closure with your dad. I still rushed you through it. I made you deal with it on my terms.”    
  
“Where are you going with this, Danvers?” The question is born of impatience, of worries. It’s easy for her to tell that Alex is working her way up to something, but she dread even thinking of what it is.  
  
“I fucked up when I told you we couldn’t be together, I never fucked something up this bad in my entire fucking life.” That’s when it clicks for Maggie, she knows what Alex wants out of the conversation. A sharp jolt of emotional confusion shoot up her spine.  
  
“I’ve been in this bed for a fucking week, Maggie. I need help walking to the bathroom, I’m wearing myself out of breath just talking.” She watches Alex raise two fingers. “Two USA terrorist factions have hits on my head.”  
  
Understanding how Alex thinks comes with having been in her life so consistently, it’s easy to understand what makes the wheels turn in Alex’s mind. What’s complicated is the rest of it, there is a pattern to the way she thinks, Maggie found but it’s still a slow, complicated process. Hell, the only other person that can read her like she does, is Kara.  For a moment, Maggie wonders if that’s why her sister was so insistent with her, a week ago. “And that got you thinking about the kid stuff ?”  
  
“Yeah. I never got why you’d ever think I didn’t want kids.” She watches Alex fumble through the explanation. “I know, we didn’t talk about it, but that was more a problem for us than just for me or you.” Maggie shrugs, accepting the assessment; communication was never their strong point.  
  
“But to me, when you were so adamant that you didn’t want that?  I... I just didn’t understand how you could’ve stuck with me if it was this much of a problem. I’m all about family! I’ve always been about family!” Alex close her eyes and shake her head, a self depreciating smile.  
  
“Then I finally got it” Alex makes a sweeping motion around her. “What the fuck would have happened if I had a kid right now? Who’d be caring for them? Who would read them stories? Teach them how to punch? Who would fulfill the promises I make? Sure, I’ll recover. But, what if I died or what if I couldn’t recover?” Alex press her hand on her wounds, wincing at the touch.  
  
“I realized that this was probably what you thought when I brought up the topic.” Maggie acquiesce to the question, that’s exactly what brought her to that conclusion. “And you probably thought I was smart enough to have thought of it, right?” the smiles that comes as a response betrays the unease building inside of Maggie. “Yeah well, news flash: I’m a fucking idiot.”  
  
Maggie’s heart twist with worry as Alex starts coughing.  “Want me to get the nurse ?” Alex shakes her head, she’s clearly exhausted, leaning back into her pillow.  
  
“When did you realize that you never wanted kids?” Alex’s voice is raspy, but her breathing seems to go back to a more steady pace.  
  
The question makes Maggie go quiet, it’s not that she doesn’t have anything to say. It’s just that the question sends her into a rather introspective state. “When I started in the police. I just... It was part of making my career choice. I mean, it was pretty much a no brainer for me from the start. With my family giving up on me? I had no safety net, I still don’t.” Alex winces noticeably. “That’s not good enough to risk a kid. It was less a decision than a realization.”  
  
“When I get out of here--” Alex’s fingers grasp at Maggie’s hand again. “--I’d like if you’d let me take you to dinner.”  
  
“That depends on what you want out of it.” She makes her voice impassable and there is a silent warning in how she stares at Alex.  
  
“I want to thank you for putting up with me. I want to see what we can get out of the mess I made and maybe I want to try to understand what made you show up today” She takes a deep breath “I’m not asking you for a date, Maggie.”  
  
“Kara’s the reason I’m here, she asked me.” Not the most honest answer, but it’s hard to lower her guard around Alex after what happened.  
  
“Margarita Sawyer, you know damn well that’s not what I meant. It’s not like you never managed to say no to her before.” Alex points her free finger accusingly at her.  
  
She raise her hand in mock surrender “Alright, we can go out for dinner when you get out of this place.”  
  
Watching the smile on Alex right then, is like watching the dawn break the horizon.

* * *

  
                                                                                  A few weeks later (Kara's apartment)

 

* * *

  
  
“So, how was your date with Maggie ?” Kara tries not to smile too much, poking at the bottom of the icecream box for any remnant of the cold treat.  
  
“It wasn’t a date.” Alex sets her own box down, done with it.  The topic seems touchy, as she picks her nail she avoids looking at her sister.    
  
“Really? That’s not what it looked like from here.” She pokes at Alex with her foot, a teasing smile.  
  
“It wasn’t a date, Kara. We were catching up.” The tone is firm and confident, but a small smile pierce the mask however before she says “Next Friday though? That’s a different story”  
  
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” The ice cream box flies out of Kara’s hands and lands messily near her the kitchen island. Kara picks her sister up in a spinning hug  
  
“Put me down!” Her legs flails in the air a bit and she frantically slap on her sister‘s shoulders “We’re not getting married, we’re going out to a restaurant.”  
  
“So when’s the ceremony?” Kara finally set her sister down and kind of regret the joke immediately upon seeing how much her sister has sobered her reaction already.  
  
“I don’t even know if we’ll ever get there again.” She offers a sad smile to her sister. “It’s a date, it’s a good start, but she’s wary, cautious. With good reasons. So I think we’ll avoid talking about big projects for a while.”  
  
“Alright, well, I’ll be there no matter what.”  Another, more sober hug follows.


End file.
